Patrick Winecoff
GPS Head Varsity Soccer Coach Patrick Winecoff has been selected by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association as the 2018-2019 Girls’ Soccer Coach of the Year. The TSSAA has also submitted Winecoff to the National Federation of High School Associations for consideration as Section 3 Coach of the Year. Section 3 includes the eight Southeastern states: Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, and Tennessee.
Sectional award winners are submitted to a national committee for consideration as NFHS National Coach of the Year.
Winecoff and his coaching staff led the GPS Bruisers to a state championship in the 2018-19 school year.
"Patrick does a phenomenal job of leading our program,” says Jay Watts, GPS Director of Athletics. “He invests in his players as athletes and as people, and he has built our program into one of the very best in the state."
While Coach Winecoff is a relatively new Bruiser, he has coached GPS girls for more than 20 years as an area coach for all age ranges and levels—from club teams to the Chattanooga Football Club women’s team. Not long after he joined GPS in 2014, he found great success, bringing home a state championship that year and again last year in 2018.
Success comes in the training, which starts in the hot final weeks of summer break, leading to strong players and positive relationships with the coaching team. Most significantly, Winecoff spends ample time training on specific procedures or outcomes. He looks forward to every season, learning about each player’s strengths and blending their skills to better control the outcome of each game.
“Our team understands what we’re trying to accomplish. They feel confident in the training environment and are able to translate that to what happens during a match,” Winecoff says. “I don’t have to stand on the sidelines going crazy, getting a player to do something—she already knows what the plan will be. There’s no apprehension. They know exactly how to execute.”
Winecoff is grateful for time with his team—their work ethic, their self-motivation, and their sense of gratitude.
“It almost catches me off guard when, during a training session, a girl walks past and thanks me,” Winecoff says. “They’re thankful for the opportunity. They have a great group dynamic. It’s fantastic to see, and I’m grateful to be able to coach them.”
BRUISER STATS: GPS athletics historically go on to play college athletics at nearly twice the rate of the national average—for boys and girls. The NCAA reports that only 7 percent of high school athletes will continue their sport at the collegiate level. Last year’s graduates, GPS Class of 2019, saw 13 percent sign letters of intent to play in college. To date, 7 percent of the Class of 2020 has already committed to play NCAA Division I athletics.
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SCHOOL PROFILE: Girls Preparatory School is an independent day school for college-bound girls, grades six through 12, in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. Since 1906, GPS has been committed to academic excellence while educating the whole girl through a broad array of scholastic and cocurricular experiences, including 15 varsity sports and a robust arts program. As GPS students, girls grow in intellectual curiosity, honor their individuality, share their opinions with confidence, and discover the strength within them to change the world.
MISSION STATEMENT: Girls Preparatory School inspires each girl to lead a life of integrity and purpose by engaging her mind, cultivating her strengths, and nurturing her self-confidence and respect for others.